Yearly Reflections . . .

I've noticed I have a decided tendency to sit down at the tail end of the year and look back. I think it's a natural inclination as one year dies and another begins to look over the past and plan for the future.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. I always do, but I want to take particular time this year to really sit back in silence and reflect on what I have. First of all, health. We went through a really difficult two years with my dad.We didn't know what was wrong for a long time, several long and complicated surgeries and all the attendant indignities, and finally a trip to the Mayo Clinic where they were able to solve the issue once and for all. I'm thankful so much for his health, and for the sanity and strength my mom found during the whole process. I think it aged me a bit there. The not knowing is one of the most frightening things and I wasn't even the one going through it. Even my imagination fails when I try and put myself there.

I'm thankful for my little family . . . the little person, the furry ones and my husband . . . the ones who actually share this house, and sometimes this computer, with me. They make me laugh, they make me want to wring their necks, but most of all they love me. No matter what happens outside of this house, I know when I walk back through this door that people here love me. And nothing is more satisfying than seeing my grumpy old furry boys lever themselves off the couches they've been holding down all day to greet me at the door. I don't know how many years we might have together (one is 13 and the other 9) but I'll cherish every day, even when you won't quit staring at me or breathe on me in the middle of the night like a furry serial killer.

That's not say that I'm not thankful too for that greater support system of friends and family. Lots and lots of family (seriously, they are legion). I appreciate the pictures we share on Facebook, even as we're hundreds, if not thousands of miles apart. I'm thankful for the meals, the conversations, the glasses of wine and the laughs. I'm sure there will be many more.

In my professional life, I'm thankful for the kids who make me want to get up in the morning and colleagues keep me sane. I get paid to laugh, and cry and coach and coax and support and push. I'm thankful too to every reader who decides to plunk down their hard earned cash for one of my stories. I hope they love my worlds and characters as much as I do. 

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